Peter Mallett

The Venerable Peter Mallett, CB, OStJ, QHC (1 September 19255 June 1996) was a Church of England priest and British Army padre, who served as Chaplain-General to the Forces between 1974 and 1980.

Early life Mallett was born on 1 September 1925 in Leicester, Leicestershire, England. He completed his theological education at King's College London. He then began his National Service in the Royal Air Force. However, after a short time he left to work in the Cinderhill Pit, Nottinghamshire for two and a half years.

In 1951, he was ordained a deacon in the Church of England by Archbishop Geoffrey Fisher in Canterbury Cathedral. He became curate at St Oswald's, Norbury, in south London. In 1952, he was ordained a priest. He joined 1st Battalion, the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) when they were posted abroad to take part in the Malayan Emergency. He served as Senior Chaplain of the Aden Brigade, during the Aden Emergency. He left with the final evacuation in 1967 on the creation of South Yemen. He joined the British Army of the Rhine and served as Deputy Assistant Chaplain-General in Berlin in 1968. He then took up the post of Senior Chaplain at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst in 1969. He was posted to Northern Ireland in 1972. On 1 July 1974, his appointment to Chaplain-General to the Forces in the rank of major general was confirmed. He succeeded John Youens who had served as Chaplain-General for the previous eight years.

On 1 July 1980, he retired from the British Army.

Later life Between 1981 and 1986, he was managing director of Inter-Church Travel, an organisation that arranged pilgrimages, and religious and cultural journeys. In 1982, he became a Canon of the Diocese of Europe and retired form that position in 1996.

Honours and decorations On 30 August 1957, Mallett was Mentioned in Despatches 'in recognition of gallant and distinguished conduct in operations in Malaya during the period ending on that date'.

On 20 July 1973, he was appointed Honorary Chaplain to the Queen (QHC). In April 1976, he was appointed Officer of the Venerable Order of Saint John (OStJ). In the 1978 Birthday Honours, he was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB).